Chapter 12

I admit I was a bit shocked. We'd had a number of conversations about this very subject, but they always wound up with Shiloh deciding to wait until after college. The thought of trying to raise a child while taking on a full course-load of schoolwork was more than a bit daunting to Shiloh. Plus, Shiloh's cross-country coach thought it was highly likely she'd get scholarship offers; having a child would void her chances at an athletic scholarship.

The thought of having another child wasn't a negative for me; rather, I wanted more kids. Lisa had insisted at stopping with Kaitlyn because the pregnancy was 'too rough' on her, so she'd had her tubes tied. That she suffered from post-partum depression wasn't lost on me as contributing to her reluctance to have more children. So when she'd declared that she didn't want any more kids, I stuffed my disappointment deep down inside and locked that away with the other dreams and hopes that, as I grew older, had been recognized as unobtainable and, therefore, not worth the effort of pursuing.

That Shiloh wanted kids, and I assumed sooner rather than later, thrilled me to no end. I know, I know; I said I was shocked. That's simply because I had always assumed that would be a few years down the road. The way she said her statement, she'd decided to alter her plans. So, obviously, my curiosity was piqued. I had all sorts of thoughts rambling around in my head that culminated in this — Why? Why the change in plans? Why now?

"Why?" I asked as I stroked her smooth naked back. I felt the muscles of her face scrunch up. I sighed because I knew that my question wasn't the reaction she was expecting. "What I meant, Shi, is why the change of plans?"

I felt her relax as she asked, "How'd you know I changed plans?"

I smiled at her, but she didn't see the smile because she was staring vacantly at the wall like she was lost in her own thoughts. "Well, angel, you've always talked in the future tense about having babies, ' ... when we have kids'; like it was a goal down the road. But you changed that to the present tense by saying 'want'. Sooo ... why the change?" I prodded.

She wiggled a little bit to snuggle tighter to me, if that was even possible. Which it was. She reached over, took my hand and pulled it to her lips to kiss it.

"I don't know. I guess after that rat bastard left this afternoon and we talked about what he really might be looking for, I ... well ... I got to thinking. What kind of damage could he do to us with what I told 'im?" She had released my hand and I wrapped my arms around her again. She pressed on, "Questions I'll be asked at one point or another during the custody hearings, Gary. Not only did we make love before I turned 17, but you were still my guardian at the time. You were supposed to be looking out for my best interests and protecting me, not taking advantage of me. At least that's they'll say.

"I can't lie if they ask me, baby; I was raised to always tell the truth! I'm terrified of losing you; if I have your child growing in me when this is all said and done and you do have to go to jail, at least I'll have a part of you with me." Her fingers dug into my chest as she started to cry.

"I wouldn't ask you to lie for me, Shi. I was raised the same way. If I screw up and have to pay the piper, then I suck it up and pay that damned piper," I gently said to her. "If I have to go to jail because of what we did, then it'll be worth it."

"But I don't want to lose you!" This was accompanied with a harsh sob.

"You won't lose me, angel. Even if I have to get thrown into the clink, I'll still be coming home to you."

This seemed to mollify Shiloh to a small degree. "What if it causes you to lose custody of Kaitlyn?" she sniffled.

"I don't know, Shiloh, I honestly don't know," I said, "But what I do know is that it won't be your fault; that'll be Lisa's fault. And I'll still love you regardless. Never forget that."

"Ok," she whispered, sounding much more like a 7-year-old rather than the 17-year-old that she was.

I stroked her hair for a few minutes. "So when do you want to have our baby?"

"As soon as possible," she replied quietly.

"What about college? Your scholarships?" I asked. I wanted to be sure she had thought these issues through and wasn't making a rash decision that she'd regret later in life.

"That actually is something I've been thinking about for a lot longer." She had relaxed even more and felt like a nice, warm, albeit wiggly, blanket. "I've been thinking of going to school here."

I should say right here that we'd discussed the possibility of moving—temporarily—to wherever she chose to go to college, even if it was out-of-state. We'd both agreed that, while staying in Idaho was our first choice, we shouldn't eliminate any options. I could easily get another job and she'd probably be getting more than enough with scholarships that we could still comfortably live most any place we chose.

"Well, they do have mechanical engineering at BSU," I commented.

"Well," she said hesitantly, "about that. I've been thinking of going for a communications degree instead." She quickly added, "Sorry."

"No reason to be sorry, darlin'. I want you to do what you want to do not what you think I want you to do. So why communications?"

"Well, we've been doing a lot of different writing assignments in English class. Back in October Mr. Naas, the English teacher, had us do a narrative assignment about a pivotal moment in our lives and what the results of our decisions were regarding that pivotal moment." She paused for about a half-minute before continuing, "I did mine on the first three months you and I knew each other. I ended up going far over the three-page limit for the assignment, but he didn't mark me down for it. He said my story moved him emotionally and that I should write one of those motivational biographies about my life and get it published. In fact he was adamant that I do it."

I want to mention here, also, that her writing is on par with any of the top authors you'll find on the bookshelves. I'd read some of her assignments, and also some extracurricular writing, and I was blown away by her gift for storytelling. She makes my writing look like a caveman was pounding on a keyboard with his wooden club while grunting in excitement.

"Anyway, he thinks that I should try pursuing a career writing books. Even if that doesn't pan out, with a communications degree I could get a job as a television or newspaper reporter. Maybe even for a magazine or whatever.

"I could still go to college with a baby, Gary; all the basic stuff I could take as online courses. We wouldn't have to move and you wouldn't have to look for a new job."

"Okay. Whatever you decide to do, I'm behind you 110%, angel," I said with a smile.

"Ohhh, behind me, are you?" she cooed in my ear. The innuendo wasn't lost on me. Her tongue flicked my earlobe.

We spent the remainder of the evening with me trying to fill her so full of cum that it would start oozing out of her pores. I may be forty-plus, but Shiloh made me feel like I was half my age. I'm sure that if we had a dog at that point in time he'd have run from the house like he'd been scalded and his ass was afire.

The remainder of the week flew by. Shiloh set up the bogus email account and, as she told me later, sent Kaitlyn an email that, to outside observers, would appear to be from this kid Kaitlyn liked, but would cause Kaitlyn to stop, think about whom the email was coming from and what was said. We hoped that she'd figure it out rather than just delete it thinking it was spam email. Shiloh also started her flight lessons in earnest. Each evening she'd return home all giggly, wiggly and giddy like it was her birthday. Me? Well, my week was more routine than anything: early morning runs, work, then home. Jerry called me Friday afternoon to let me know that the mediator with the Department of Health and Welfare had contacted him to set up a time for pre-trial negotiations; it would take place the next Wednesday. I shot Shiloh a quick message to keep her in the loop and she replied telling me that she'd take a day off from school to attend with me since this ordeal both affected us.

The days rolled over into December and quickly Wednesday arrived. Shiloh and I met Jerry at the courthouse and went inside. Jerry led us to a conference room on the second floor where Lisa's lawyer and the DHW mediator awaited. Just before we walked in Shiloh gave me a quick reassuring smile and a quick squeeze of my hand. I closed my eyes, took a deep breath and opened my eyes, before stepping into the conference room.

We were greeted by the DHW mediator, Annette Cole, and Lisa's lawyer, Edward Goldwater. Mr. Goldwater was the same lawyer Lisa had retained for our divorce and he still looked like the pretentious, smarmy little prick that he was back then. We took our seats across from Mr. Goldwater; Ms. Cole sat at the head of the table.

The whole point of the pre-trial negotiations, according to Ms. Cole, was to reach an agreement in the best interest of the child – Kaitlyn – in which I would voluntarily sign over my parental rights. I snorted when Ms. Cole mentioned this, muttering that it'd be a cold day in hell before that would happen. Shiloh just rested her hand on my forearm and whispered to me to let Jerry work his magic.

So I settled in for the long haul. I let Jerry do his thing and do all the talking on my behalf. As the two lawyers and the mediator dickered back and forth, I kept a steady glare on Lisa's lawyer. Mr. Goldwater negotiated like he was in a hostile takeover and he held the upper position. He would occasionally look at me with a look that told me he knew something that he thought we didn't know. I would've bet my last retirement check it had to do with one Mr. Eric Miller.

As the negotiations dragged out, I found myself having a recurring daydream where I'd reach across the table and use Mr. Goldwater's head like an old fashioned telegraph machine. I'd use him to send Lisa a message, something along the lines of: "You do realize that Kaitlyn will hate you for the rest of her life, right? If not, it's time to wise up because she will. It's in her interest to be able to still see me. And Mr. Goldwater sends his regards." Tappity-tap-tap; that would be Mr. Goldwater's fate if I acted upon my fantasy. Of course, he may object, but it was my daydream and he didn't have a say.

I don't know if Shiloh noticed it, but the skinny beady-eyed S.O.B. kept stealing glances at her, even going so far as to leer at her at one point. If she did notice, she made no indication; she did notice how I would tense up occasionally, though, when he'd glance her way. Shiloh would gently squeeze my hand and rub my arm soothingly at an attempt to relax me somewhat. At one point Mr. Goldwater looked at me and then to Shiloh before he smirked like he knew something I didn't know. I kept the appearance on my face neutral, but inside I was seething. He knew something about the P.I.'s investigation; his little gaffe told me everything I needed to know.

We'd been in this "negotiation" for nearly ninety minutes when I decided I'd had enough. The lawyers could negotiate until the stars vanished from the sky and I wouldn't capitulate to the request to voluntarily give up my rights with Kaitlyn. I calmly stood and Shiloh looked up at me questioningly. Her expression was matched by Jerry's. Shiloh slowly rose to her feet beside me.

I placed my hands on the table and glared at Mr. Goldwater while I addressed Ms. Cole, "We're done here, Ms. Cole. I will not give up my rights to my daughter under any condition. All we're doing now is wasting me and my wife's time. I'm only sorry that you had to be drug into the middle of this by the slimy underbelly of professions. No offense, Jerry." He just chuckled while Mr. Goldwater bristled at my insult.

"I understand, Mr. Ashton," Ms. Cole replied, "Once I file my report, which should be by Friday afternoon, the court should contact Mr. Anderson in short order to schedule the hearing."

I nodded in reply and turned to Shiloh and beckoned her to follow me. She followed me as I spun on my heel and briskly strode out the door. We left the courthouse and got into my truck. I sat there with the truck idling as I clenched and unclenched my hands on the steering wheel.

Shiloh reached over the center console and gripped my forearm. "Gary, are you alright?"

I didn't answer right away. The heater on my truck was blowing cold winter air, but was slowly warming up. Finally I laughed a mirthless laugh.

"You know, I really can't understand why they think I'd actually give up Kaitlyn of my own volition. It would be one thing if I was a deadbeat dad or something, but I've never been that way," I said with a hollow voice. "And that lawyer, Mr. Goldwater, he's lucky I didn't yank him over the table and use his head as a bongo."

Shiloh giggled and leaned over the console to kiss my cheek. "Why's that babe?"

"He kept glancing at you and probably was mentally undressing you," I grumbled.

"Well, baby, he can mentally undress me all he wants, but he won't actually ever get to see this," she purred as she unbuttoned her robin blue blouse and pulled the halves apart. I unconsciously licked my lips as I watched her flicked the frontal closure on her peach-colored lacy bra. "These are for you and you alone," she cooed. She pulled the bra cups apart and her delectably hardened nipples came into view. She rubbed her fingers over them and closed her eyes as she purred.

She giggled at me as I sat there with my mouth hanging slightly open. She leaned back over the console and kissed me passionately. Her tongue darted in my mouth before I snapped out of my state of surprise. I sucked on her lower lip before she pulled back. Her eyes had a smoky look in them. She rubbed my crotch and I was surprised that my dick was already as hard as steel. She was now kneeling on her seat and thrust her chest to me.

"Touch me, Gary. These little titties of mine are only for you, so show me you like them," she said in a low voice.

I ran my hands over them as she arched her neck. She shivered and squeaked, "Your hands are freezing, baby!" I didn't answer her but instead suddenly took her right nipple in my mouth and flicked it with my tongue. "Ohhhh ... that's much better, handsome," she gasped as she held my head tightly to her chest.

After I lavished her other nipple with some warm attention, she was gasping and panting. She reluctantly pushed me back and settled back into her seat. "If you keep that up, guy, I'll jump your bones here and now and we'll wind up getting arrested for indecent exposure," Shiloh giggled seductively. "Let's go home; I didn't plan on going back to school, so we have hours and hours before I have to go for my flight lessons."

I watched Shiloh for a moment as she made herself presentable again. She was flushed which caused her freckles to stand out a little more on her face and chest. I shivered in anticipation as I put the truck into gear and pulled out of the parking lot to head home.

We got home and I was barely inside the door before I had a wiggly turned-on teenaged redhead plastered to me, trying her best to suck my tongue down her throat. We paused only long enough to leave a trail of clothing from the front door into the living room.

After hopping around on one foot trying to take off my last sock, I found Shiloh waiting for me. She was braced against the back of the recliner bent over at the waist and looking at me from over her left shoulder.

"C'mon, big boy, use that big dick of yours and claim me for your own," she said huskily. "Skip the foreplay; I'm already dripping wet. Give it to me hard."

Who am I to complain when my soul mate tells me she wants it hard and fast? Not I, says this little red chicken. So I plunged headfirst. Little head first that is. Shiloh gasped and squeaked when my hips mashed her ass as I sank balls-deep into her. I withdrew slightly and slammed back in repeatedly as I started a rhythm that would leave us gasping, panting and sweaty.